What is Total Organic Carbon in water?
Total Organic Carbon (TOC) is a measure of the total amount of carbon in organic compounds in pure water and aqueous systems. TOC is a valued, analytical technique that is applied by organizations and labs to determine how suitable a solution is for their processes.
What is the significance of Total Organic Carbon in water analysis?
TOC is the measure of the level of organic molecules or contaminants in purified water. TOC is an analytic technique that helps organizations understand whether the water they are using is pure enough for their processes. All water, no matter how pure, contains some carbon materials.
What is TOC in water testing?
Total Organic Carbon (TOC) is a measure of organic carbon found in a sample. In the pharmaceutical industry it is used as a non-specific indicator of water quality.
What is the principle of TOC?
TOC refers to a Total Organic Carbon analyzer, which utilizes a catalytic oxidation combustion technique at high temperature (the temperature raises up to 720 ºC), to convert organic carbon into CO2. The CO2 generated by oxidation is measured with a Non-dispersive Infra-Red (NDIR) sensor.
Why is total organic carbon important?
TOC is the first chemical analysis to be carried out on potential petroleum source rock in oil exploration. It is very important in detecting contaminants in drinking water, cooling water, water used in semiconductor manufacturing, and water for pharmaceutical use.
How does total organic carbon affect water quality?
The larger the carbon or organic content, the more oxygen is consumed. A high organic content means an increase in the growth of microorganisms which contribute to the depletion of oxygen supplies. The source of this organic material could be a wastewater treatment plant releasing treated sewage into the stream.
What makes up total organic carbon?
Total organic carbon (TOC) is the amount of carbon found in an organic compound and is often used as a non-specific indicator of water quality or cleanliness of pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment. Subtracting the inorganic carbon from the total carbon yields TOC.
How do you calculate total organic carbon?
Total organic carbon (TOC) is determined by treating an aliquot of dried sample with sufficient phosphoric acid (1:1) to remove inorganic carbon prior to instrument analysis. Percent TOC and TC are determined in sediments dried at 105°C using a LECO CR-412 Carbon Analyzer.
How does total organic carbon work?
How does a TOC analyser work? Total Organic Carbon can be measured using a TOC analyser. This works by oxidising the organic compound to a form which can be quantified. Oxidising organic carbon produces Carbon Dioxide, which can then be measured and the value converted into a TOC measurement.
What causes total organic carbon?
Environmental. Since the early 1970s, TOC has been an analytic technique used to measure water quality during the drinking water purification process. TOC in source waters comes from decaying natural organic matter (NOM) as well as synthetic sources.
How does organic carbon get in water?
Organic carbon occurs as the result of decomposition of plant or animal material. Organic carbon present in soil or water bodies may then dissolve when contacted by water. This dissolved organic carbon moves with both surface water and ground water.
How do you find the total organic carbon in water?
TOC is calculated by subtraction of the IC value from the TC of the sample. Another variant employs acidification of the sample to evolve carbon dioxide and measuring it as inorganic carbon (IC), then oxidizing and measuring the remaining non-purgeable organic carbon (NPOC).